Understanding Communication and Aging

DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS

Jake HarwoodUniversity of Arizona

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Preface xi

Part 1: Introduction to the Study of Aging and Intergenerational Communication 1

Chapter 1. Perspectives on Aging 2

Chapter 2. A Communication Approach to Aging 26

Part 2: Attitudes About Aging and Interpersonal Communication 49

Chapter 3. Stereotypes and Attitudes about Aging and Intergenerational Communication 50

Chapter 4. Aging, Identity, Attitudes, and Intergenerational Communication 71

Chapter 5. Intragenerational Relationships in Older Adulthood 88

Chapter 6. Intergenerational Relationships in Older Adulthood 105

Chapter 7. Enhancing Communication with Older Adults 123

Part 3: Social Representations and Mass Communication 141

Chapter 8. Mass Communication Portrayals of Older Adults 142

Chapter 9. Uses and Ef fects of Media 170

Chapter 10. Culture, Communication, and Aging 188

Part 4: Contexts of Communication in Older Adulthood 211

Chapter 11. Health and Health Care 212

Chapter 12. Technology 236

Part 5: Conclusion 255

Chapter 13. The Future of Aging: Yours and Ours 256

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface xi

Part 1: Introduction to the Study of Aging and Intergenerational Communication 1

Chapter 1. Perspectives on Aging 2

Why Study Aging? 5

Approaches to Aging 11

Biological/Biomedical Approaches 11

Psychological Approaches 13

Sociological Approaches 14

Lifespan Developmental Approaches 16

Methods for Studying Aging 20

Chapter 2. A Communication Approach to Aging 26

Decline in Communication 27

Normal Aging 27

Pathological Aging: The Case of Alzheimer’s Disease 32

Counterpoint: A Positive Research Agenda on Aging 35

Approaches to Communication and Aging 40

Interpersonal Communication 40

Mass Communication 40

Intergroup Communication 42

Key Propositions Guiding the Book: A Communication Approach 42

Communication Ref lects and Shapes Our Understanding of Aging 42

Communication Shapes People’s Experience of Aging 43

Age-Group Memberships Are Fundamentally Important to Our Sense of Self 43

Age-Group Memberships Inf luence Communication Phenomena 45

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Part 2: Attitudes about Aging and Interpersonal Communication 49

Chapter 3. Stereotypes and Attitudes About Aging and Intergenerational Communication 50

Distinguishing Stereotypes and Attitudes 53

Attitudes Concerning Aging 54

Stereotypes of Aging 57

Age Identity—Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation 60

Social Mobility 61

Social Creativity 61

Social Competition 64

Cognitive Representations of Intergenerational Communication 66

Why Do Negative Attitudes and Stereotypes Matter? 66

Chapter 4. Aging, Identity, Attitudes, and Intergenerational Communication 71

Communication Accommodation Theory 72

The Communication Predicament of Aging (CPA) Model 74

The Age Stereotypes in Interaction Model 77

Supporting Dependency 78

Other Dimensions of Accommodation 81

Age Identity: Disclosing and Concealing Age in Communication 82

Chapter 5. Intragenerational Relationships in Older Adulthood 88

Marital Relationships in Old Age 91

Intragenerational Friendships in Old Age 96

Sibling Relationships 100

Chapter 6. Intergenerational Relationships in Older Adulthood 105

Grandparenting 106

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren 113

The Parent-Child Relationship in Older Adulthood 115

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Intergenerational Friendships 123

Chapter 7. Enhancing Communication with Older Adults 123

Change in Young People: The Inf luence of Intergenerational Contact on Attitudes 124

Communication and Intergenerational Contact 128

Perceptions of Variability 128

Ending the Predicament: The Communication Enhancement Model 131

Change in Older Adults: Confronting Patronizing Talk 133

Passive Responses 134

Aggressive (Confrontational) Responses 134

Assertive Responses 134

Humorous Responses 135

Communication Skills and Communication Training 135

Part 3: Social Representations and Mass Communication 141

Chapter 8. Mass Communication Portrayals of Older Adults 142

Underrepresentation 143

Negative Representation 148

Health 149

Lead Versus Peripheral Roles 149

Humor 151

Messages About the Aging Process 151

Positive Portrayals 152

Exceptional Characters 153

Central Characters 154

Humorous Characters 155

Advertising 155

Political Power 157

The Media Industry 164

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Chapter 9. Uses and Ef fects of Media 170

Age Differences in Media Use 171

Quantity of Television Viewing: Older People as “Embracers” of Television 172

What Older Adults Watch 174

Other Media 178

Uses and Gratif ications Theory 179

Media Effects 180

Effects on Younger Viewers 181

Ef fects on Older Viewers 181

Older People as “Embracers” of Television? 184

Chapter 10. Culture, Communication, and Aging 188

East Asia 192

South Asia (India) 197

United States Latino Culture 201

Native American Cultures 203

Globalization and Transcultural Themes 207

Part 4: Contexts of Communication in Older Adulthood 211

Chapter 11. Health and Health Care 212

Physician–Older Patient Interaction 214

The Nature of Physician-Older Patient Interaction 215

Physician Factors 215

Patient Factors 216

Companions 218

Improving Physician-Older Patient Encounters: The Physician’s Role 219

Improving Physician-Older Patient Encounters: The Patient’s Role 221

Satisfaction 223

Beyond Communication: Older Medical Manifestations of Ageism 223

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Support Groups for Caregivers 224

Elder Abuse 228

Death and Dying 229

Additional Topics 231

Chapter 12. Technology 236

Stereotypes of Older Adults’Technological Competence 238

The Reality of Older Adults’ Computer Use 240

Barriers 240

Increasing Use 243

What Do Older People Do on the Internet? 247

Identity and Functions of Internet Use 249

Technology and the Workplace 251

Part 5: Conclusion 255

Chapter 13. The Future of Aging: Yours and Ours 256

Aging in Individual and Societal Context 259

What Can You Do Now? 260

Glossary 270

References 279

Index 314

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This book is dedicated toJean and Tony Harwood

x

I wonder if age, in fact, may offer the opportunity to develop values and abilities, for each of us and for

society, that are not visible or fully realized in youth.

—Betty Friedan, The Fountain of Age

PREFACE

Aging is a fundamental human process—just as we all breathe and eat and sleep, so we all get older every day. This book discusses how communication processes are shaped by, and themselves shape, how we grow old. Aging is a biological process, but it is also a fundamentally social process—something we understand and engage with through the messages we exchange with one an-other. That is the starting place for thinking about communication and aging.

The study of communication and aging has grown immensely over the past thirty years. In writing the first edition of this book, my goals were to summarize the research literature in this area in a reader-friendly manner and to encourage new scholars to enter this fascinating area of study. The decade since the first edition was published has seen the research literature continue to grow as well as an increasing acknowledgment, on a societal level, that aging issues merit more of our attention. Recent years have also seen a slight shift in attitudes towards aging, with researchers and more members of the public acknowledging the positive aspects of getting old. While aging is still viewed with some degree of negativity by many in society, positive aspects of aging seem to be more accepted than they were in previous years.

This second edition retains the goals of the first and explores some of these new trends in societal aging and aging research. It follows the same basic struc-ture as the first edition. The book addresses some foundational issues concerning aging in the early chapters, discussing aging as a phenomenon with importance from the biological level to the sociological level. These early chapters empha-size what it means to take a communicative approach to aging. Then, the book addresses a number of interpersonal issues, discussing how our prejudices about aging influence intergenerational communication and then how communica-tion processes operate in intragenerational and intergenerational relationships. The book then shifts its level of analysis and examines issues at a societal level through the lenses of mass communication and intercultural communication. While aging is an inevitable and fundamental human process, the ways it is experienced vary depending on the social context in which it occurs.

Finally, the book examines aging in a couple of contexts that are very much entangled with our perceptions and communication about aging. Aging is

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inextricably tied to health—for many of us, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of aging is ill health, and so a chapter considers how commu-nication is tied to health-related processes in old age. Likewise, we have very well-developed ideas and expectations of the association between age and uses of communication technology. Older people are, often correctly, thought to be behind the curve on technology and, less accurately, thought of as being uninterested in technological change.

While the structure of the revised book is largely unchanged, the content has been updated wholesale throughout this second edition, acknowledging the changes in our knowledge in recent years as well as changes in our social landscape. The technology chapter is perhaps the most dramatic on this front: the iPhone was released at almost the same time as the first edition of this book and Facebook had only just been made available to the general public. A world in which technology primarily meant computers has changed to one dominated by mobile technology and social networking; the implications of these changes for aging are now front and center. Likewise, across all of the chapters in the book, developments in our research knowledge have been updated along with acknowledgment of the changes in our societies—we are demographically dif-ferent than we were 10 years ago, and that changes what it means to grow old.

As with the first edition, the book has a (not-so-hidden) agenda to encourage more positive views of aging and intergenerational communication. My thirty years of research in this area have convinced me of two things. First, we would all be better off if we took a more positive view of aging—individually and so-cietally. Individually, we are more likely to experience aging as a rewarding and fulfilling stage of life if we approach it with an awareness of all of its possibilities and benefits, rather than focusing on decline and death as the dominant fea-tures of old age. Second, we would all be better off if we interacted more across age barriers and if our society as a whole was more age-integrated. Age groups have a lot to learn from each other, but many cultures (including contemporary North America, for example) separate and segregate age groups in many ways. Just as societies benefit from more cultural diversity, they also benefit from diverse perspectives grounded in age. I hope the book builds a case for taking a more positive perspective on aging and on strengthening intergenerational ties.

The book is intended to be used as a textbook (although I certainly hope it might be interesting beyond a college course). For those who are teaching a course using this book, I have a wide variety of course materials associated with

Preface xiii

the book’s content that I am happy to share. Please get in touch with me and I can provide details on what is available and how to access it (jharwood@u.arizona.edu). I wrote the book to encourage all of us to think and learn more about aging, and I am keen to do anything to help those who are likewise en-gaged in the same mission. Please get in touch. Enjoy the book!

AcknowledgmentsWork with mentors, collaborators, and students has contributed immensely to the development of this book. In many cases these are also personal friends, so I trust they’ll forgive me for using (hopefully not stealing!) their good ideas. Thanks are due to Howie Giles, Mary Lee Hummert, Nikolas Coupland, Jon Nussbaum, Ellen Ryan, Justine Coupland, Stefania Paolini, Jordan Soliz, Yan Bing Zhang, Karen Anderson, Mei-Chen Lin, Priya Raman, Chien-Yu Chen, Angie Williams, Miles Hewstone, Tito Roy, Lisa Sparks, Analisa Arroyo, Maggie Pitts, Chris Segrin, Jaye Atkinson, Sheila Springer, Loretta Pecchioni, Cindy Gallois, Hiroshi Ota, Chien-Yu Chen, Sik Hung Ng, Richard Clément, Richard Bourhis and undoubtedly many others. I owe a particular debt to Howie, Jon, Ellen, Mary Lee, Nik, and Justine who as senior scholars were endlessly supportive of my interest in communication and aging when I was very early in my career.

I thank those who reviewed chapters from the first edition of the book: Jaye Atkinson, Jo Anna Grant, Sherry Holladay, Judith K. Litterst, Sandra Metts, Loretta Pecchioni, Lisa Sparks, and Janelle Voegele. I also particularly thank those who reviewed the plans for this second edition and provided valuable feedback: Merry C. Buchanan (University of Central Oklahoma), Diane M. Ferrero-Paluzzi (Iona College), Christy Rittenour (West Virginia University), Jordan Soliz (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Allison R. Thorson (University of San Francisco) and Vince Waldron (Arizona State University). The feedback was uniformly constructive and incredibly useful; my apologies that the time-line was short on this revision and so some suggestions will have to wait until the 3rd edition!

Mei-Chen Lin provided invaluable feedback on Chapter 10. I also thank those who contributed to the book by writing their personal narratives—they’re a great addition and I appreciate the time put into them. Thanks to the team at

xIv

Cognella, particularly Todd Armstrong who initially persuaded me to begin this project and who has productively re-connected with it. I thank my colleagues at the University of Arizona who provide a great working environment, as well as my former colleagues at the University of Kansas and the University of California, Santa Barbara who did likewise. Everyone involved in the National Communication Association’s “Communication and Aging Division” also deserves mention: The division is a wonderful resource and meeting place for people with an interest in the issues addressed in this book.

My love goes to Lori, Chloe, and Jonah, who help me understand more about family relationships and human development than any book ever could.

1

The first part of this book introduces central theories of aging, and discusses different disciplinary approaches to aging. The first chapter focuses primarily on aging, the second primarily on communication,

but links between the two are drawn where appropriate.

P A R T 1

Introduction to the Study of Aging and Intergenerational

Communication

2

ONE

Perspectives on AgingThis chapter presents central theories of aging from different disciplines and describes the approach taken in the current book. By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• describe demographic changes that will occur in the next 50 years;

• describe the variability among older people;

• distinguish between biological, psychological, sociological, and lifespan approaches to aging, and talk about some theo-ries of aging;

• understand the difference between a longitudinal and cross-sectional design for studying aging; and

• understand the difference between qualitative and quantita-tive approaches.

Perspectives on Aging 3

Simply put, I want to grow old,Dying does not meet my expectations

—“We Are Underused,” Stephen Malkmus (Pavement)

Do you want to get old? Given the choice, most people do—it is better than the alterna-tive! Benjamin Franklin is thought to have said that the only two things in life that are inevitable are death and taxes. Well, you can add aging to that list. All of us are getting older all of the time, and while modern medicine, cosmetics, and plastic surgery may mitigate some of the things that come along with aging, they don’t change the course of time.

This book is about communication and aging. I am going to be describing how we talk about age and how our communication sometimes betrays our less-than-positive perceptions of aging. I will be exploring some of the pleasures and pitfalls that occur when younger and older people talk to one another. I will also be discussing broader issues of how whole societies communicate about aging (for instance, through mass media). As you read the book, it is important to remember that aging is something is happening to all of us. If you are 60, you are probably well aware of this; if you are 20, you may not have thought about it so much. On the next page, you’ll find an exercise that you should complete before reading any further.

I am going to use the term aging to refer to the passing of time for an individu-al—the inevitable chronological change in our age from year to year. You perhaps use “aging” to refer to other things—a progression of physical decline, a change in family roles (e.g., becoming a grandparent), a change in work status (retirement), or forgetting where you left your keys. While some of these may be associated with increasing age, to call them “aging” confuses the issue. Aging is not associated with physical decline for all individuals at all points in time, so we need to separate the two concepts. Likewise, I am going to avoid talking about how we “stay young” on the basis that it is impossible. We may want to stay fit, healthy, socially active, or in touch with the current music scene, but treating those things as equivalent to being “young” only serves to reinforce notions about aging that (as I will argue) are inappropriate. Staying physically fit is an excellent idea; “staying young” is impossible. This book focuses on older adults—the group that perhaps you’ve talked about as “the elderly.” However, it is important to remember that older adults don’t appear out of nowhere. They used to be younger adults and children, so to understand them, we must consider the entire lifespan.

To begin, let’s think about why studying human aging is a valuable thing to do.

4 CHAPTER 1

Exercise 1.1 Perceptions and Expectations of My Own Aging

1. Draw a line (like a temperature chart) across the page to depict the peaks and

troughs that you have experienced and that you expect to experience in your life.

2. Use vertical lines to divide your life-line up into important life periods, with as

many or as few stages as you like.

3. Give each stage a name and indicate the approximate age at which it starts and

ends.

4. Above each stage mark + +, +, 0, −, or − − depending upon how you feel about

that stage (i.e., very positive to very negative).

5. Answer the following questions:

• What is the shape of the line, and what does that tell you about your expe-

riences and expectations? What does a peak indicate? Happiness? Wealth?

Control over your life?

• Are the peaks and troughs major or minor?

• Is there more volatility (ups and downs) during certain periods of the lifespan?

• How could you decrease the troughs, increase the peaks? What changes

could you have made in the past (or might you make in the future) to make

life better?

DeathBirth

Perspectives on Aging 5

Why Study Aging?Recently, the obvious answer to this question has been a demographic one. Following the Second World War, there was a worldwide surge in births (the baby boom). In part, this was because families had postponed childbirth until the war was over, but it was also a result of increased wealth and availability of devices like washing machines—it’s easier to have kids if you have more money and more time-saving devices! The elevated birth rates lasted into the early 1960s, and the baby boom generation is generally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. Population change is also occurring because of changes in life expectancy. Currently, individuals turning 65 in the United States can expect to live about another 20 years, and that number is increasing all the time. If we treat age 65 as the start of older adulthood, then the oldest baby boomers entered older adulthood in 2010. They will continue to be a significant influence on the population well into the middle of the 21st Century.

Figure 1.1 shows a population pyramid for the United States in the year 1950. This chart should make it clear why these are called pyramids; historically the population took this shape: Lots of young people (reflecting population growth) and a gradual decline in the population with each age group as the population ages (reflecting the fact that earlier generations had fewer people and, in part, of course, the effect of mortality). Now look at the chart for 2015. Notice that it’s shaped something more like a house with a pitched roof: Younger generations are roughly equal in size, but above the age of about 50, the size of the population begins to shrink. The overabundance of the very young is no longer apparent, and people in the 50+ range are becoming a much more substantial part of the population.

• Might the troughs have some positive consequences? How about negative

consequences from the peaks?

• Where are the divisions closest together? Further apart?

• What are the important events/issues marking boundaries between stages?

• Why did transitions occur at the time that they did? Are these transitions that

lots of other people might experience at about the same time, or are they

unique to you?

6. If you are working as a class, consider sharing your (anonymous!) responses and

discussing some of the differences.

Note: This exercise is derived from Whitbourne & Dannefer (1985) and Harwood & Giles (1994).

6 CHAPTER 1

If you now look at Figure 1.2, you can see a projection of the U.S. population in 2050. Notice the bulging shape and the fact that the slimming at the top of the pyramid occurs later (above age 60). In particular, it’s interesting to note a very substantial increase in the 90-plus-year-olds between the two figures. If you compare the pyramids for 1950 and 2050, you see two very different populations. Thus, the simple number of older people in the United States has made studying aging important.

Similar trends exist worldwide—indeed the baby boom in East Asia is larger than in the U.S. Figure 1.3 shows what the Chinese population will look like in 2050. Compared with Figure 1.2, you can see that the shape for China is even more “top heavy” and that people in their early 60s are the largest single age group in the entire population. Exercise 1.2 shows you how to create a population pyramid for other countries and times. It is interesting to think about the implications of these changes for small-scale things like family relationships and large-scale things like the national and global economy.

Figure 1.1 U.S. Population Pyramids: 1950 and (see next page) 2015

Perspectives on Aging 7

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “U.S. Population Pyramids: 1950 and 2015,” World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. Copyright © 2015 by United Nations.

Figure 1.2 U.S. Population Pyramid: 2050

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “U.S. Population Pyramid: 2050,” World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. Copyright © 2015 by United Nations.

8 CHAPTER 1

Exercise 1.2 Demographics of Aging

Pick a country. Go to https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Graphs/DemographicProfiles/. Click

on “demographic profiles” and then select a country. Click on “population pyramids.”

If you are working as a class, compare some of the different patterns observed in how

populations change over time for different nations. Consider South Africa, Russia,

Zimbabwe, Nepal, or Brazil as countries with interestingly different profiles. As well as

the overall pattern, consider the relative shape of the distribution for men and women.

The little dotted lines you see in some charts reflect the “expected” numbers of males

and females in that age range, and so you will notice how often (and by how much)

males are overrepresented among the young, while females are overrepresented

among the old. Do you see any countries where males are particularly overrepresented

in the very young? Research the different reasons for the different patterns you ob-

serve. War, famine, social trends, selective abortion, as well as the factors discussed in

the chapter all influence these patterns.

Figure 1.3 China Population Pyramid: 2050

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “China Population Pyramid: 2050,” World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. Copyright © 2015 by United Nations.

Perspectives on Aging 9

Before moving to other issues, it is perhaps worth noting that the “tidal wave” of older people has been the subject of much social discussion in recent years (the “silver tsuna-mi”!), and this will probably increase as more boomers retire. Some of these discussions have fed the fires of prejudice against older people: “They” are presented as an enormous and greedy mass who are going to strain our health care system, destroy pension funds, and generally disrupt how society functions. Hence, while it is important to describe im-minent demographic changes, it is also crucial to exercise caution that such discussions do not reinforce prejudicial myths about the older population (Coupland & Coupland, 1999).

Why I Study Communication and AgingJake Harwood (Professor, University of Arizona)

During my teenage years, I became increasingly interested in issues of prejudice against people of other nationalities, ethnic groups, reli-gious orientations, and the like. Why are such forms of hatred so widespread, and why do they seem so hard to get rid of? This interest was stoked in my undergraduate classes (I was a Psych major) where I learned about theories of racism, intergroup relations, and social identity. During this period, I also came to recognize that prejudice

against older adults was similarly widespread and similarly hard to get rid of. Over time I came to understand that this prejudice was just as wrong and just as interesting from a communication perspective as any of the others. Along with this personal journey, my interest in aging was spurred by all the great people who study communication and aging issues—many of them are featured in this book. These people have inspired and encouraged me. Finally, my own aging has made me more directly aware of the personal stake that we all have in understanding more about aging, and in trying to change ageist attitudes. To quote a slogan I saw somewhere: “Ageism: If it’s not your problem, it will be!”

10 CHAPTER 1

Demographics aside, there are many other important reasons why we should be in-terested in studying aging. All humans share the experience of thinking about their past and their experiences when they were younger, as well as contemplating possibilities for the future. Part of the study of aging is trying to make sense of what it means to be the same person inhabiting many different roles, bodies, and age groups with the passing of time. Aging is also interesting for some of the paradoxes it encompasses. For instance, one paradox is that most young people claim to love their grandparents, but in general they are not very fond of older people as a group (see Chapters 3–4). We often discriminate against older people, even though eventually we are going to become one (see Chapter 3). We often claim that old age is associated with great wisdom and knowledge, yet as a society we rarely listen to older people talk (and when we are forced to, we often don’t enjoy it very much—see Chapter 5). Hence, we should be interested in studying aging to understand these paradoxes, and hopefully improve relations between older and younger people in society.

Finally, old age is also interesting because of the diversity in the older adult popula-tion. Far from being a homogenous group, over 65s are incredibly diverse (Dannefer & Perlmutter, 1990). Researchers are interested in uncovering the causes for that diversity: Why is it that one 70-year-old can end up as president while another requires care in a nursing home? The variability among older adults becomes particularly clear with recent increases in longevity. Between ages 65 and 95 there is a huge amount of change in our bodies and minds. Baltes (1997) calls 80-plus-year-olds the “fourth age” and describes that age group as a new frontier for research. This is largely uncharted territory for scientists because people in this age group were rare until recently. In 1950, people over 80 were 0.6% of the world’s population. By 2050 they will be about 4% of the world’s population—that is more than a 500% increase in their population presence (Beard et al., 2012)!

When we compare people in the “fourth age” with the “young old” (roughly 65–80 year-olds) we can see some dramatic differences in physical well-being, social function-ing, and the like. In Chapter 2, for example, we’ll see the dramatic differences in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease between 70- versus 90-year-olds. Finally, there are diversity implications for aging in different ethnic and gender groups. Chapter 10 will address some of the cultural variability in aging: Getting old is simply not the same experience for people who are gay versus straight, black versus white, or (as illustrated in the charts earlier) Chinese versus American. Getting old can be also be quite different for men versus women. Women are substantially more likely to lose a spouse as they get older (because men die younger and women tend to marry slightly older men). Older people are very diverse, something that should become clear as you read on.

Perspectives on Aging 11

Approaches to AgingIt is possible to study aging from biological, psychological, or sociological perspectives (among many others). The way in which you begin thinking about aging will probably influence the conclusions that you draw, so we will consider a few of these perspectives. The field of gerontology (the study of aging) is relatively new, and hence most people in the area come from other disciplines (e.g., they are gerontologists who were originally trained as psychologists). Hence, the study of aging tends to be interdisciplinary—it spans a lot of the traditional boundaries established in universities. Below, I consider some of the most common approaches in gerontology, briefly describing the kind of knowledge that emerges when we take each approach.

Biological / Biomedical ApproachesFor many people, studying aging is all about biological changes which are generally nega-tive: illness, decline, and ultimately death. Understanding the biological and biomedical processes that underlie aging helps us understand how to intervene in age-related ill-nesses, spurs the development of new and more effective medicines, and can improve the quality of life for older people. Biological theories of aging are complex and not central to this book. However, it is important to be aware that scientists remain somewhat uncertain about what causes physical symptoms associated with old age.

Some approaches focus on the process of gene reproduction and mutation. Our genetic material (DNA) is being reproduced constantly, and during the process of repro-duction, errors occur. One theory of aging suggests that the accumulation of these errors over time causes problems in the production of proteins (very basic building blocks of life) which make it more likely that crucial organs (the brain, liver, heart, etc.) will stop functioning properly.

Other biological approaches focus on metabolism rate (the speed with which bodies perform their basic chemical functions). These theories suggest that organisms that live longer have slower metabolism rates. Mice, for example, don’t live very long and have exceedingly high metabolism rates—they almost literally burn themselves out! If physical decline associated with aging is a function of metabolism rate, then we should be able to extend our lives by slowing our metabolism rate, and such effects have been shown in some animals. For instance, mice that are fed calorie-restricted diets (no Big Macs!) tend to live substantially longer than mice whose food intake is not restricted. Proponents of this theory have advocated seriously calorie-restricted diets for humans to slow the metabolism and thus increase the lifespan. Experiments on humans in this area are obviously challenging!

The Free Radical theory proposes that certain highly reactive agents in the body (“Free Radicals”) cause damage to all sorts of parts of our body over time. These free radicals are produced as a natural part of body chemistry. As the damage they cause

12 CHAPTER 1

accumulates, serious malfunctions in the body become more likely (disease, organ fail-ure, etc.). The idea of eating foods high in “antioxidants” is in part an attempt to reduce free radicals. However, the latest data suggests that this theory doesn’t quite work as expected, and a number of credible organizations now recommend against people taking dietary supplements for their antioxidant properties (Moyer, 2013). Don’t panic—eating blueberries is still OK.

Finally, cross-linking theories suggest that over time certain proteins in our body start to connect to one another when they shouldn’t. This is evident in the skin, which even at relatively young ages begins to lose the smoothness and elasticity it had when we were babies. While skin is superficial (only skin deep!), such processes occurring else-where might cause more significant problems. For instance, proponents of this theory explain vision decline with aging as a function of proteins cross-linking in the eye’s lens, which reduces the normal flexibility of the lens that allows our eyes to focus.

The common thread across these theories is that the body slowly wears itself out, whether as a function of internally produced complications or environmental damage. However, these theories also illustrate that some of the changes we view as “inevitable” with aging could actually be addressed with preventative care. If metabolism rate in-fluences our lifespan, we can eat fewer calories. If it’s free radicals, then substances like Vitamin C may be very important because they neutralize free radicals. Indeed, we need only look at the changes in longevity over the past 100 years to understand the impact of lifestyle on age-related processes. In the United States, life expectancy for men and women increased by over 25 years during the 20th Century (up to around 75 for men and close to 80 for women). These trends are expected to continue (albeit at a slower rate), with female life expectancy at around 90 by the end of the 21st Century (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2015). In the U.S., the National Center for Health Statistics reports life expectancy of 77.6 years in 2003, up from 77.3 years in 2002—so babies born just a year later are expected to have an average life-span about four months longer (Hoyert et al., 2005). Such changes are a function of lifestyle developments (better diet, better understanding and treatment of disease, better education, and the like: Baltes, 1997). The biological change that occurs with aging is distinctly “plastic”—it can be changed.

Nonetheless, some illnesses and conditions continue to be chronically associated with old age. Evolutionary biologists have discussed why “natural selection” hasn’t tak-en care of such problems. Didn’t Darwin say that over time the fittest would survive? Why do people continue to experience negative health consequences in old age (like Alzheimer’s Disease)? Put simply, there is no evolutionary selection against genes that predispose us to Alzheimer’s Disease (or other physical problems associated with old age), and there is no evolutionary selection in favor of genes that might protect us against the disease. By the time the disease develops, we have already reproduced and passed our genes on to the next generation. Because old age occurs after we’ve had children, as a population we do not select against predisposing genes, or in favor

Perspectives on Aging 13

of protective genes in the way that we might for a disease that produced symptoms in the teenage or early adult years. Indeed, the evolutionary significance of old age is remarkably complex. Some have suggested that old people are detrimental to a species’ success (because they use resources that could be used by younger, reproductively active individuals). These theories have not received a lot of support from researchers (or from those who advocate for older adults). Other researchers have noted that the presence of older adults in a community has many positive effects. For instance, grandparents can serve a fundamentally important role in caring for grandchildren in societies where parents are involved in farming, hunting, or industry—work of any kind. This might also be true with killer whales (Whitehead, 2015). At least one area of research has suggested that significant strides in human culture are directly traceable to the point in time when people’s lifespans reached the length that grandparenting was possible (Caspari & Lee, 2004; Hawkes, 2003).

Psychological ApproachesLike biologists, many psychologists focus on decline and deficit in aging. A great deal of attention in this area has focused on memory and the ways in which people forget more when they get old. While evidence has emerged showing that memory deficits can be a problem in old age, certain elements of memory are largely spared. Short-term memory appears to be more of a concern than long-term memory. For instance, as we get older, we may have a harder time remembering a seven-digit phone number for long enough to find a pen and write it down. However, we are just as good at remembering long-term “knowledge” like the state capital of Kentucky (if you’re interested, it’s Frankfort).

A second area of decline is suggested by disengagement theory. This theory suggests that older adults disengage from society and their social networks as they approach death. This increasing isolation in older adults was thought to be functional for older people and those around them (particularly in terms of decreasing stress and bereavement associated with death). This theory has been largely discredited. However, a more recent theory makes related predictions and has received more support. Socioemotional se-lectivity theory predicts that older individuals are more focused on the “here and now,” and hence will focus on the relationships that provide them with the most significant rewards, while reducing their investment in more peripheral relationships. This theory has received support with evidence that older adults focus their energies on family, for instance, and are less concerned with collecting large numbers of casual acquaintances than younger people (Carstensen, 1992). Hence, while older adults’ networks of social relationships do get smaller, it is incorrect to view this as a decline of any kind. Rather, it reflects focusing and shifting emphasis (see Chapter 5).

Continuity theory is a theory of aging that downplays the changes associated with aging and instead focuses on what doesn’t change. Research emerging from this theory has consistently uncovered patterns of stability in old age. Our personalities,

14 CHAPTER 1

our preferences and tastes, the activities we enjoy, and those we don’t enjoy all remain relatively stable and predictable in old age. Continuity theory is a useful theoretical framework for those who are terrified of aging. Despite the notion that everything is going to fall apart at age 65, in fact, things are going to remain much the same!

Activity theory is a psychosocial theory designed to explain successful aging. This theory suggests that those who maintain high levels of activity will be more successful in aging. Extensive support for this theory emerges in studies of older adults who maintain hobbies, develop new ones, and remain socially active. These older people are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who do not maintain their activity level.

Another psychological influence on quality of life in old age can be a spiritual or religious component. Moving closer to death can make broader metaphysical issues more salient, and religion provides comfort to some people (although certainly not all) in such situations. Religious activity can also provide non-spiritual benefits such as a readily accessible network of social support (Park, Roh, & Yeo, 2012).

A final substantial area of social psychological research has been on issues of attitudes about aging and stereotypes of the elderly. Because of the very direct links between this work and the study of communication, this work is described in considerable detail in Chapter 3. However, for now it is worth noting that psychologists and communication scholars have discovered a lot about why we aren’t always very positive about getting old.

Sociological ApproachesOne substantial emphasis of sociologists has been on the demographics of aging. While some baby boomers were still in diapers, sociologists were already beginning to consider the impact of this group on the population as they entered older adulthood. Sociologists have been particularly concerned with the ability of social institutions to cope with a large population of older adults. They are also interested in phenomena like the geographic mobility of older adults. For instance, here in Tucson, Arizona, we have a large older adult population that only exists for about half of the year—they very sensibly escape the city during the extreme heat of summer. For a sociologist, this raises interesting questions about the availability of social services for year-round older residents—either services are “stretched” beyond capacity during the winter, or they have excess capacity in the summer. There are also interesting questions here regarding the friendship networks of older people in this sort of context—do they maintain two separate networks of friends in their two cities of residence?

Another important demographic (and hence sociological) issue is the sex ratio among older people. Among 65-plus-year-olds, 58% are women and 42% men. This ratio becomes even more skewed with advancing age: 80-year-olds are only about 35% men. The implications of these disparities for providing services, financial planning, health care decision making, and personal relationships are, as you can imagine, substantial. To the extent that sociologists overlap with those interested in social policy issues, these

Perspectives on Aging 15

scholars are concerned with the provision of services to older adults and government policies regarding aging. These are the experts you see on television talking about Social Security system reform in the United States and similar government pension plans in other countries. At the intersection of sociology and economics you can find research examining the influence of retiring baby boomers on the stock market—if older people sell their stocks to buy more conservative investments, will the market crash?

A few theoretical approaches are worth brief mention here. Modernization the-ory examines the ways in which societal changes influence the place of older people. Specifically, theorists in this tradition argue that more “modern” societies (think big cities and suburbs, Wal-Mart, computers) have led to a more peripheral position for older adults in society. Evidence for this can be seen in some traditional cultures where traditionally older adults live with their family members. With a move to city living, there is less space in the children’s homes, and the extended family living structure has broken down (see also Chapter 10). Some question the assumptions underlying this theory, particularly as even in very “modern” societies, children continue to provide extensive support for aging parents, albeit perhaps of a different nature from in the past. Others question whether there ever was a time that older people were fully integrated.

Social stratification theory concerns itself with the ways in which age, like gender and race, serves as an organizing principle for social life. Theorists from this perspective are interested in examining the extent to which societies are segregated by age. For instance, if you look around a university campus, you tend to find many people in their late teens and early 20s and not many people much older than that (except for the occasional professor, perhaps). In contrast, if you drive through certain neighborhoods, you may find them al-most exclusively inhabited by families with young children or in other cases by retired peo-ple. How this happens and its implications for the organization of social behavior would be of interest to stratification theorists. Is this extent of age segregation functional for society, or does it cause problems? Some sociologists advocate higher levels of age integration and experimental concepts like multi-generational living environments and schools.

Sociologists have also been at the forefront of criticizing how we think about aging as a society. Those who focus on the political economy of aging are concerned with how social and economic structures maintain negative life circumstances for older people. For example, Estes and Binney (1989) describe what they call the biomedicalization of ag-ing. They discuss how we have come to see aging as an exclusively medical and biological phenomenon—it is something to be treated medically. This occurs because of the focus of the medical community on profit rather than health: For many medical institutions, it is in their interest to encourage older adults’ dependence on the medical system, rather than encouraging older people towards health and independence. Thus, ill health and decline in old age can be understood as socially constructed phenomena: As a society, we create the conditions in which it is easy for older people to buy into their own decline and very difficult for them to maintain independence and health. Political economy theorists criticize spiraling health care costs and declining quality of care, and point to the ways in

16 CHAPTER 1

which government and private industry sometimes appear to collaborate to achieve goals that are in their mutual interest, but perhaps not in the interest of older adults.

Lifespan Developmental ApproachesErik Erikson (e.g., 1968) may be the first social scientist to consider human development as a lifespan phenomenon. Prior to Erikson’s work (in the late 1950s), human development was something that stopped at the end of childhood; “children develop, adults don’t” was the philosophy of the day. In contrast, Erikson’s theory described various developmental “tasks” that we all must accomplish throughout our lives. For instance, he said that people in middle age are focused on issues of generativity: A successful middle-age is one that is focused on creation and production. This might include productivity at work as well as creating and nurturing a family. Erikson argued that those who do not feel that they have been successful in producing something worthwhile during this phase will not pass one of the lifespan’s tests and may suffer psychological problems (e.g., depression).

The idea of generativity has received quite a bit of attention in recent years, and scholars have begun to address its importance into later life. Generativity is revealed in narratives of one’s life and especially narratives of redemption: people who are more generative also tend to frame their life stories in terms of having overcome, and ultimate-ly benefited from, struggles and hardships (McAdams & Guo, 2016). This interesting work reveals more broadly that how we frame our lives in the stories we tell others (and ourselves) can dramatically influence our self-perceptions and self-evaluations.

Erikson’s theory is now a little outdated: His work failed to consider fully the possibility for continued developmental challenges late into old age, and his final stage of development puts too much emphasis on achieving a final resolution and “closure,” rather than engaging in continued challenges. Nonetheless, his work has set the stage for a proliferation of theory and writing in the subsequent years, and he really was revolutionary in drawing attention to developmental tasks and challenges that occur throughout adulthood.

A more recent lifespan developmental approach that offers promise for all people interested in aging is the Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) model (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). This approach acknowledges that at all stages of the lifespan there are things that we are good at and things that we are not so good at. At all ages, we resign ourselves to dependence on certain fronts in order to gain independence on other fronts. When we are very young, we focus on particular developmental tasks (e.g., learning to read, understanding social interaction) and happily delegate the rest to care-givers (When did you last see a three-year-old cooking dinner?). At other points in our life, the balance shifts—in middle-age we might invest relatively little in furthering our education while focusing a lot on our careers (“Show me the money!”). At this stage, we might have limited time or motivation for taking care of our yard, so we pay somebody to do that for us. In other words, we select particular areas of our lives, optimize our

Perspectives on Aging 17

performance in those areas, and compensate in those areas where we lack ability or motivation. Baltes (1997) describes how the concert pianist Arthur Rubenstein, at age 80, accounted for his continued success. Rubenstein reportedly said that he selected fewer pieces to play, practiced them a lot (optimized), and compensated for declines in his dexterity with clever strategies. For instance, he couldn’t play the fast bits of some pieces quite as quickly as when he was younger. So instead, he would play particularly slowly before he got to the fast bits, thus making his performance of the fast bit seem faster!

The SOC model questions our general inclination to view childhood as a time of gain and old age as a time of loss. It introduces the idea that we experience gains and losses at all points in the lifespan. Consider, for instance, the ways in which children

Achievements in Old Age

Lillien Jane MartinLillien Jane Martin was born in 1851. She defied the odds for women of the time

and graduated from college, going on to teach high school for several years. She

became increasingly interested in the field of psychology and quit her teaching job

to study for a Ph.D. in Germany. In 1909 (aged 58), she was appointed as a Professor

of Psychology at Stanford University, and went on to be department head—the first

woman to head any department at Stanford. After she retired (involuntarily!) at age

65, Dr. Martin went on to write some of the key works that founded the modern

study of Gerontology, as well as founding a clinic for older people at age 78. In 1913,

when Martin was 62, the University of Bonn awarded her with an honorary Ph.D.:

As part of the award, the university noted that she was “The most distinguished,

most illustrious woman… worthy both by name and reputation, philosophical,

strenuous, strong, successful, most esteemed in experimental psychology and

aesthetics.” Martin continued working and published books into her 80s, providing

some key grounding for today’s study of old age. Foreshadowing some of the

perspectives presented in this book, she once said “Age is an accident and nothing

to pride oneself on. The important thing is to adapt oneself to the requirements of

each successive age-class and to function in each as an active participant in life, a

fully adjusted human being.” Martin lived her own philosophy well; according to

the official memorial resolution published by Stanford when she died, she learned

to drive a car at the age of 78 and subsequently drove across the country twice.

Learning new skills and contributing new ideas are clearly things that are possible

even into advanced old age.

18 CHAPTER 1

become more inhibited and less able to engage in imaginary play as they get older, while simultaneously gaining technical and social skills. Successfully negotiating development is often a process of deciding which areas to select and optimize, and where and how to compensate for losses in other areas. The SOC model presents an optimistic view of old age as a time when we are continuing to do what we’ve done all our lives: Focus our energies on the things that are important to us and look for help with the things that we don’t have the time or ability to do ourselves. Table 1.1 presents a list of assumptions that underlie most “lifespan developmental” theories. The SOC is a nice example of such a theory, but all such theory has similar sets of assumptions.

Of course, old age presents some unique challenges, in part because it is such a new phase of life in our culture. The numbers of older adults in society are unprecedented. Living beyond age 70 was not something that society had to take seriously a hundred years ago. Now it is expected, and we will soon have almost a quarter of the world’s population in that age range. We have not had time to culturally adjust to that change

Table 1.1 Principles of a Lifespan Approach to Human Development

Principle Definition / Example

We develop and grow throughout the lifespan.

Development doesn’t just happen in childhood. It contin-ues, and at any age we can still be learning new things and adapting to environmental changes and challenges.

Development involves gains and losses on different dimensions.

Development is not just about getting physically stronger and intellectually smarter. It is about coping with what life throws at you. A time of physical decline may be a time of great intellectual accomplishment or great social rewards.

Age constrains but does not control development.

The lifespan approach does not deny that age influences development—it is unlikely that a 90-year-old will ever win the 100-meter dash at the Olympics. However, humans are immensely adaptable; There are almost infinite options available to us at almost all points in our lives, and successful development is a function of how we deal with those options.

Environment and history constrain but do not control development.

The specifics of our social and physical environment and the period during which we live shape our development but do not control us. Some challenges kill us; others make us stronger. Social and cultural forces interact with the biological in profound ways.

Note: Derived from Baltes, 1987.

Perspectives on Aging 19

Box 1.1 Ted Talks About the Aging Process

https://www.ted.com/talks/lux_narayan_what_i_learned_from_2_000_obituaries

A funny talk about using language analysis to understand obituaries and through

those to understand what makes a good life.

https://www.ted.com/talks/timothy_ihrig_what_we_can_do_to_die_well

Interesting discussion of dying and palliative care. It gets a bit involved in the

economics at times but also provides some great insights on the value of communi-

cation at end of life.

https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_carstensen_older_people_are_happier

Nice talk outlining (in an entertaining way) Carstensen’s socioemotional selectivity

theory and why it is that older people are (on average) happier.

https://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_prager_wisdom_from_great_writers_on_ev-

ery_year_of_life

A discussion of how human life-span aging is discussed in literature. From a commu-

nication perspective, examining the ways we talk (or write) about aging can be very

revealing.

https://www.ted.com/talks/ramona_pierson_an_unexpected_place_of_healing

Describes an unusual experience of ending up as a young person living in a nursing

home for older adults and the intergenerational experiences associated with that.

https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_prescribes_a_healthy_take_on_time

Our lifespans, of course, occur in time; this talk discusses the nature of time and how

we live in and understand time.

https://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging

Aubrey De Grey is a controversial fi gure, and there is not always a lot of evidence

for his claims. He is the academic end of the huge industry aimed at defeating (and

denying?) aging. Nonetheless, he is an engaging presenter and a good illustration of

what a “scientifi c” negative view of aging looks like.

https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100

20 CHAPTER 1

in our demographic profi le, but it is interesting to ponder how society might change in the future to fully realize the potential of this age group.

If you want to get a fl avor of some of the issues this book will be addressing, check out the “Ted Talks” in Box 1.1. Th ese provide insights from a broad variety of perspectives on how the aging process is experienced and in some cases how communication infl u-ences our aging. Revisiting these aft er having read the book would also be worthwhile, as some present evidence supporting ideas you will encounter in later chapters—the value of intergenerational relationships, the importance of language in shaping how we experience aging, and the important cultural diff erences in how aging is understood.

Methods for Studying AgingAll research methods that are applied to social phenomena can be used for studying aging. Researchers interested in aging processes use interviews and questionnaires to ask people about their experiences of aging, feelings about older adulthood, and the like. Th ey also use experiments to manipulate various aspects of the environment to see if it has eff ects on our opinions about getting old, or the actual experience of aging. In addition, a multitude of observational methods are used, such as visiting retirement communities and nursing homes to observe how they function, or asking young and old people to have conversations while they are videotaped. With aging, though, some addi-tional considerations come into play—we become interested in how people are changing as they get older, and to understand that, we need some rather specifi c methods.

Some researchers employ cross-sectional designs. Th ese are designs in which people from diff erent age groups are examined at one point in time (e.g., by recruiting a group of 20-year-olds and a group of 70-year-olds, and comparing their scores on a memory test). Th ese are relatively low-cost designs—the data can be gathered at a single point in time. However, we can’t always interpret the fi ndings. If the 20-year-olds do better on the memory

A nice antidote to Aubrey De Grey, this talk explains some less controversial keys to

healthy aging and longevity and discusses parts of the world where lifespans are

unusually long.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_how_societies_can_grow_old_better

A discussion of aging from a more societal and anthropological perspective on aging

with some interesting comparisons of aging in modern versus traditional societies.

Perspectives on Aging 21

test, is that because memory gets worse with age? If so, you have discovered a developmen-tal effect—some fundamental change that occurs as we get older. However, it could be because people born 70 years ago ate less fish (fish is brain food, you know!), and so their memories are worse because of their diet. That would be a cohort effect—an effect that is the result of being born at a specific point in time. A cohort is any group of people born at roughly the same point in time, so a cohort effect is any difference between two groups of people that occurs because of when they were born, rather than because of how old they are. With cross-sectional designs, it is impossible to distinguish between developmental and cohort effects.

One partial solution to this problem can be found in longitudinal studies. These studies take a single group of people and track them over time. You start with a group of 20-year-olds and examine them every 10 years. After 50 years (at which point they will be 70) you will be able to see whether their memory has declined with age. If their memory is worse, you know it is not a cohort effect because this is a single cohort. However, it is still possible that events specific to this cohort have caused the changes (for instance, air pollution during the intervening 50 years might have caused memory problems, rather than anything inherent to the process of aging—a cohort aging during a period of lower air pollution would not suffer memory decline). We are still not sure that what we have observed is a developmental effect that would apply to all cohorts. After spending 50 years on the study, you can imagine that it is rather disappointing to discover that you can’t draw any firm conclusions!

To fully disentangle cohort effects and developmental effects, researchers have come up with various complex designs, generally known as cross-sequential methods. One type is illustrated in Figure 1.4. In this design, groups of people of different ages (in this case 20, 40, 60 and 80) are recruited at one point in time (in this case, the year 2000). The variables central to the study are measured (e.g., memory). Then, at some fixed interval (in this case 20 years) the people are contacted again, and the variables of interest are measured again. In addition, every 20 years a new cohort of 20-year-olds

Figure 1.4 A Cross-Sequential Research Design

Year

2000 2020 2040 2060 2080

Peoplestudied

20-Year-Olds 20 20 20

40-Year-Olds 40 40 40 40

60-Year-Olds 60 60 60 60 60

80-Year-Olds 80 80 80 80 80

Note: Numbers in the cells of the �gure indicate age of subjects at the time of measurement.

Note: Numbers in the cells of the figure indicate age of subjects at the time of measurement.

22 CHAPTER 1

is recruited. Essentially, this is the equivalent of running multiple longitudinal designs side-by-side. The arrows in the diagram indicate the direction of each longitudinal wave.

By using the type of design illustrated in the figure, it is possible to understand whether effects are caused by cohort or lifespan developmental factors. Differences across rows indicate cohort effects. Consider, for instance, all the different 80-year-olds studied (shown in the ellipse). If we find that 80-year-olds in 2040 have better memories than 80-year-olds in 2000, that difference would clearly be a function of when they were born. Both groups are 80, so the memory difference can’t have anything to do with their age; hence it is not a developmental difference.

In contrast, if you observe consistent patterns of differences between two age groups no matter when they were born, then those differences are probably reflective of stable lifespan developmental patterns. For instance, consider the various 20- and 40-year-olds that we can compare (shown in the blue boxes on diagonals). If 40-year-olds always have worse memories than 20-year-olds across all those time periods, then we can be confident that this is a lifespan developmental trend: an inherent consequence of aging. It happens no matter which cohort people are from. Clearly the time and energy required to carry out these designs is considerable, and hence they get used infrequently. In contrast, cross-sectional designs are cheap and easy to perform, and they are used a lot, despite their limitations. Possibly the most valuable thing from considering these designs is to pay attention to the many different interpretations of a difference we might observe between two age groups. Properly interpreting “age differences” is a very complicated task! Box 1.2 describes a more in-depth and context rich approach to aging research.

SummaryAs with most aspects of human social life, the study of aging is complicated. It involves contributions from the biological and medical sciences as well as from across the social sciences. Different disciplines have quite different theories to understand aging, and to fully understand old age we must consider all disciplinary perspectives. Increasingly, we will also rely on the insights of gerontologists—people specifically trained to examine aging. As the final portion of the chapter showed, some methods used to study aging are different from, and in some ways more complicated than, methods used in other areas. As we face the demographic realities of the 21st century, understanding the why, how, and who of studying older adulthood will become more important. For people making career decisions, understanding aging can be particularly important: The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of jobs related to aging will continue to increase as the older population continues to grow. People who understand more about human aging will have a huge advantage in the labor market over the next 20–30 years. The next chapter will expand on a communication perspective on aging, discussing the kinds of insights that communication scholars can bring to this fascinating part of human life.

Perspectives on Aging 23

Box 1.2 Qualitative and Interpretive Approaches to Aging:An Example

The chapter describes traditional “scientifi c” approaches to aging, but it is also possi-

ble to examine aging through a more “qualitative” lens. Qualitative researchers try to

understand aging by listening carefully to what people say about aging and examin-

ing older people’s “real lives” (as opposed to their responses to questionnaires). For

instance, Xiao et al. (2017) investigated how older people and their families adjust to

moving into residential care homes which are multicultural (i.e., the staff often come

from many nations) when the elders were previously accustomed to non-diverse

environments. The authors interviewed residents and their family members and

asked them general questions about their care home, as well as some more pointed

questions about communication problems with staff for whom English was not a

fi rst language. They identifi ed four themes in the resident and family members’

responses. Many family viewed the diversity as an attraction. (“Oh, what I fi nd good

and fascinating is actually the range of diff erent races and cultures here.”) However,

the need for mutual adaptation between staff and resident during communication

was noted as important. (“I have to ask them to repeat sometimes because of their

accent.”) Dietary issues emerged as a big concern with residents, particularly when

staff members were from a diff erent culture. Asian residents, for instance, weren’t

always happy with how often the staff cooked rice. (“I can’t request that; if I want rice

every day, you can’t do that. Occasionally they do, but I prefer cooked rice probably.

Yeah, sometimes I ask my sister if they’re coming bring me this or this. I miss chicken

and rice.”) The degree of culturally appropriate leisure activities was also raised as

a concern—for instance the dominance of English language TV for residents who

didn’t speak much English. (From a family member: “…he spends a lot of the time

every day sitting down in front of the TV, [in English] and I don’t think that’s particu-

larly appropriate or good for his health or wellbeing.”) While some of the responses

and issues may seem mundane, they refl ect specifi c concerns that are important

to residents or family members. In some cases, they reveal issues that might not

have emerged in a quantitative survey (e.g., the qualitative research revealed the

importance of diet, which the researchers might not have expected). The research

also revealed the communicative dynamics of how residents in the home would

adapt their communication to staff (e.g., by using gestures rather than talking), thus

illustrating vividly how creative adjustment of communication occurs amongst

these older care home residents.

24 CHAPTER 1

Keywords and Theories

Discussion Questions• How do changing population demographics influence individual lives?

How might the aging of the baby boomers influence your life?

• What economic opportunities might arise as a result of the aging of the baby boomers?

• What are some ways in which you are currently facing issues of selec-tion, optimization, and compensation in your own life?

• Why has “natural selection” not eliminated Alzheimer’s disease?

• What does it mean to say that genes (or anything else) constrains, but does not control, development?

Annotated BibliographyEstes, C. et al. (2001). Social policy and aging: A critical perspective. Thousand

Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Activity theory

Aging

Baby boom Biological theories (free radicals, etc.)

Biomedicalization of aging

Cohort effect

Continuity theory

Cross-sectional design

Cross-sequential design

Demographic

Developmental effect

Disengagement theory

Erikson’s lifespan theory

Evolutionary theory

Lifespan

Longitudinal design

Narrative

Political economy of aging theory

Population Pyramid

Selective optimization with com-pensation

Socioemotional selectivity theory

Spirituality

Perspectives on Aging 25

A great example of a critical sociological approach to age and aging, Estes and colleagues criticize the way in which we approach and think about aging as a society, and present some radical alternatives.

Hawkes, K. (2003). Grandmothers and the evolution of human longevity. American Journal of Human Biology, 15, 380–400.

This fascinating article discusses a variety of approaches to aging from an evolutionary perspective. Written in an accessible style, it’s a great way to understand a “Darwinian” perspective on getting old.

Rowe, J.W., & Kahn, R.L. (2015). Successful aging 2.0: Conceptual expan-sions for the 21st century. Journals of Gerontology (Psychological Sciences), 70, 593–596.

Rowe and Kahn (1998) published a very readable examination of myths about aging, which is also a great personal guide for how to maximize your own older adulthood. In this 2015 article, they reflect on the development of their successful aging model and update it to include consideration of technological developments since the original publication. An even more communication-oriented approach to successful aging can be found in Fowler, Gasiorek, and Giles (2015).